International tourists doubled since resuming of flights: Senna Fernandes
International tourist arrivals nearly doubled in the first quarter from 3,000 to 5,000 daily while the overall average daily visitor arrivals reached 60,000, the director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) revealed yesterday.
Macau recorded overseas visitors surge since the gradual resumption of international flights as the local government pushes tourism campaigns in its source markets, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes added.
The head of the local tourism board also said that she was confident that the quality of tourism service would improve in time for the summer holidays.
On the sidelines of the press conference of a tourism expo, Senna Fernandes was asked by the Times to comment on a recent scene reportedly seen at a local resort.
Complains on Facebook mention about experiencing long queues for check-in at a local resort. The hotel guest arrived at the check-in area at the Cotai resort and was asked scan a QR code for pre-registration, before being forced to wait for 150 tickets.
The guest revealed that the QR code was scanned at 6 pm and the room was only assigned at 10 pm the same day.
In response, Senna Fernandes admitted that the authorities were “certain that there were teething problems” as resorts were seeking to hire new employees or train existing workers. She was confident that the resorts knew about their issues and were finding ways to resolve them.
Time is the key element, she believes, to solve the poor quality issues. “Give them a little more time and obviously things will get much better in the coming months,” said Senna Fernandes.
Her outlook for the summer holidays is as optimistic as usual. She was also supportive of the local hotel industry, saying that she believes “hotels have their own strategies on how to alleviate the burden and to service their clients better.”
Students looking for summer jobs may also form part of a feasible solution, she added.
The influencer marketing strategy of the expo is highly reliant on mainland Chinese personalities who may not be well known or attractive to foreign visitors, who are a main target according to the Chief Executive. Senna Fernandes stressed that the expo is not solely held for promoting Macau, but should also be a platform for foreign exhibitors to connect with China.
“We are organizing this to help exhibitors open up different markets,” she said. “We are looking forward to building the expo into a platform so that international exhibitors can find business opportunities in China.”
This explains why live streamers or influencers commissioned by the expo are mainly from mainland China, she concluded.
Despite her comment, she stressed that she is open to the participation of influencers from other regions in the future.
